Today’s post (should have been a couple-of-yesterdays-ago’s post) is a resource list of really wonderful reading websites. I use all of these myself and totally love each and every one of them. Sure, there are others too that I love but these are my Top 3; they are my Lit List of 3 reading websites for kids that are worth exploring and bookmarking and sharing!

And I am going to use this as my tag for list posts going forward, that I think will be useful, helpful, or for those ‘the best of the best’ anythings.

The Lit List: Reading Websites

Storyline Online

Storyline Online – You know the importance of reading to your kids. And you do it everyday. But sometimes, you want someone else to do it, right?! With Storyline Online, you can welcome stars right into your home and have them read your child a story or two. This website is one of my favorite “reading” resources online.

From Betty White to Oprah, from Kristen Bell to Rami Malek, from Sean Astin to James Earl Jones and so many more, this site has stars reading to you right where you are. It is truly a pleasure to listen and be read to.

Books also include activity guides to help children understand more about the book as well as strengthen their reading and writing skills. This is sure to be useful for teachers and parents.

When I first discovered it years ago, there were about a dozen or so books (or maybe a few more). Now, there are almost 60 books and each year, a few books get added. It is difficult to pick a favorite but one of the first books I listened to is ‘Sophie’s Masterpiece’ narrated by CCH Pounder and it is a beautiful story. Check it out if you have not read it before. And another one that stays with me is ‘A Bad Case of Stripes’ read by Sean Astin.

International Children’s Digital Library

International Children’s Digital Library – The ICDL includes books from all around the world. According to the website, it currently has 4619 books in 59 languages. While this does not include a read-aloud feature like the previous website, the delight is in discovering books from different countries and learning about them.

You can access and read all books without creating a sign-in here; being a registered user makes it possible to save favorites, mark preferred languages, save last read pages of current reads and more.

I have read quite a few books here and reviewed/mentioned a couple on my blog earlier, including here and here.

Children’s Library of the Internet Archive

As the website says, the Internet Archive ‘is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.‘ And it is simply magnificent in what it offers. I watched Charlie Chaplin’s ‘The Vagabond‘ from the silent movies section, listened to songs played at the Civic Center the year I was born, listened to a radio show from the 1930s, discovered and flipped through pages of a favorite childhood magazine from Russia (Misha), and more.

The Children’s Library within this wonderful archive includes many books (according to the website – 3,337) from around the world. The books — both known and unknown –span across centuries! Reading books here is like opening a treasure chest from the past.

Below is a page from ‘What to Draw and How to Draw It’ by Edwin George Lutz (1868). If I had looked at this one before yesterday, I could have included a drawing of the rocking horse! (and worked a bit towards one of my resolutions for the year)

And a bonus site – Gutenberg – which probably is something many already know. I have lost count of how many books I have read here.

And now, the end of the post..

So, dear reader, what are your favorite online reading resources for kids? Or for yourself? Do let me know…

Here are my previous posts for the month:

• The Rocking Horse Winner
• Sunday Scribblings #20: In the Year 2020, We Will
• 2020 Reading Challenges – Join the Fun!
• Resolution – a firm decision to do or not to do something
• A Resolution To Keep the Resolutions We Make
• On the First Day of the Decade, My …